Oregon Layover - Aug 4-14, 2000
Newburg, Salem, Portland, Bend, Klamath Falls, etc., OR
Layover narrative
Well, it was an eventfull week and a half in Oregon! It held two reunions, lots and lots of relative visiting, mechanical and autobody damage and repairs, a job interview, cave exploration with Theresa's mom, just shy of two thousand miles of scenic Oregon travel, and a new car purchase. Daily web pages necessarily fell by the wayside, but below you'll find links to pages of notable highlights. Michelle, Alan and Brynn were good enough to house Brian and Theresa for the duration of Theresa's ten year reunion and then some. While Theresa was beside herself with the chance to spend time with an old friend, Brian was equally pleased to have someone to talk computers with and who could provide a DSL connection free of charge. But it didn't stop there, no sir. They were also good enough to smile when the bus ran off down their street unattended and smashed up their neighbor's tree and a light pole. Really. These are very good people. The next time they get to Alaska we intend to repay the favor, and you best hope you're not our neighbor. Cousins John and Bev bore the brunt of the Bus' misbehavior. What was initially intended to be an overnight visit to the J & B Ranch turned into the better part of a week's stay. Despite their refusal to leave, John and Bev continued to feed and house Brian and Theresa with smiles and kind words. Some day we intend to move back for good. On the other side of the Cascade Mountains, in Lapine, Brian and Theresa found a large room full of more cousins than you can shake a stick at. The Day reunion brought together four generations of descendants of the Day family. Brian's mom made the trip from Alaska, although by a little more direct route than Brian and Theresa. After all of that build up, here are only the pictures of those who we know wouldn't be annoyed to be on the internet. Mostly. After reunioning in Lapine, we headed south to Klamath Falls to see Theresa's mom. We snuck into town, nabbed Peggy, and made for the Oregon Caves National Monument for a cave tour. It was a beautiful day and Theresa and her mom had a nice chance to catch up before and after. The caves were very cool, with lots of nooks and crannies, narrow passage ways, and ladders and stairs to get folks from room to room. It was very different from Carlsbad and felt a little more adventurous as we ducked to go through passageways. It was great to spend a day with Theresa's mom and to visit with her Aunt Linda before we snuck back out of town and headed back north to Salem. Between relative visiting, coordinating automotive repair, and car shopping we drove our insurance rental mini-van around 1800 miles. Here are some pretty pictures out the window or within walking distance. Really, the defining moment of our stay in Oregon was the moment we drove back up Alan and Michelle's street after the second day of Theresa's class reunion. The bus had been tempermental in the morning and we were driving Alan and Michelle's second vehicle. They were in their minivan in front of us and pulled into their garage. As they met us in the driveway, all four of us said somewhat in unison, "Where is the bus?"
Let's get two things straight. The bus is not the sort of vehicle car thieves seek out. The wayward car thief that decided to steal the bus that day would have needed to give it a monumental tune up to get away. After staring at the spot where the bus had been for a minute or two, someone found the Newburg Police Department card in the front door. The card had a hand written message informing us that the bus had, in fact, rolled out the driveway, across the street, and into to the neighbors yard prior to being towed away. We looked across the street to see a greatly reduced tree and a trail of leaves. The bus had apparently sat still from noon until about 10:30pm before heading off on it's own. Theresa extended her apt geriatric analogy from the Florida Keys, reasoning that the bus had feigned illness in the morning, waited until it knew the coast was clear, and attempted to escape the unrealistic expectations being placed on it as things got dark. However, being elderly and not too agile, it ran into the tree in it's escape attempt and broke it's hip. A sad story. In the real world, the emergency brake failed for whatever reason and, because we had collision coverage on the Bus, the subsequent repairs, body work, and rental vehicle were covered minus a hundred dollar deductable. However, this event, and the awareness that the bus needed new brakes and a clutch before heading up the Alaskan Highway, began our search for alternate transportation home. Almost whole (still waiting for a new rear bumper), the bus is now resting comfortably in the shop at Brian's family farm in Salem. Brian and Theresa are excited about the prospect of taking the bus out to play on vacation after a short flight to Portland and are already talking about next summer's agenda. You might not want to tell the bus just yet... Ahhh! Alternative transportation home. Truth be known, we had been talking about it for a lot of our drive. Brian's interview in Bemidji went well and he will be working in an itinerant position next year. We have been carpooling through the winter for years, because the bus is not well suited to Alaskan winters. The new job and only one vehicle would mean dropping Theresa off and picking her up every day. Theresa believes this would make her testy. Brian guarantees it. It seemed to us that the new VW Beetle was a logical extension of the Bus, fun to drive and not at all practical. The one we finally dickered our way into has heated seats and about every other do-hickey that you can imagine. And, for the record, it's powered by Turbonium...
Layover Photos
